Canon EOS 40DAn introduction and what's new since the EOS 30D
Following many months of intense anticipation by photography enthusiasts all over the world, the Canon EOS 40D, that was built on the sucess of Canon's perennially popular EOS 20D and 30D was launched on 20th August.
The EOS 40D sports a newly enhanced CMOS sensor that is both designed and manufactured by Canon, giving 10.1-megapixels. Canon has also replaced the autofocus sensor (which was basically the same thing in the 20D and 30D) with one that is more sensitive and much faster. DIGIC II has also been replaced by the improved DIGIC III image processor, giving you 6.5fps of continuous shooting up to 75 best-quality JPEG files or 17 RAW files.
Canon has positioned this camera to take on any assignment thrown at it, ranging from quick action and sports to wildlife and nature shots. Housed inside the magnesium-alloy casing is the highly efficient DIGIC III as well as DDR SDRAM memory, together with a four-channel-per-line sensor output and separate motors for mirror and shutter.
LCD Display
- Increased sized from 2.5" to 3.0"; menu text can be larger
- Broadened colour gamut
- Narrower viewing angle for better viewing under bright sunlight
DIGIC III
The latest generation of Canon's image processing engine. The EOS 1D Mark III has two of them even. Over it's predecessor, it offers better fine details and colour of the images recorded. The speed of the processor allows for 6.5fps shooting and the excellent efficiency of the DIGIC line is carried on, with battery life going all the way to over a thousand shots (without flash) on a single charge, and of course on a single battery.
Improved image quality
Sensor size remains the about the same for Canon's APS-C range of DSLRs. However with each new release, larger microlenses are used over each pixel, reducing noise output and expanding sensitivity to ISO 3200. The analog-to-digital (A/D) signal conversion capability has been extended from 12-bit to 14-bit. With 14-bit, each channel is able to recognise 16,384 colours and this is four times that of the EOS 30D, resulting in images with better gradations of colours and tones!
A new autofocus module
The nine-point AF coverage since the EOS 20D has remained, however the module has been redesigned and we now see a marked improvement to speed, precision and functionality. Subject recognition problems have been greatly minimised. Autofocus speed of the EOS 40D is 30 percent faster than the EOS 30D.
Interestingly, the new AF sensor now provided cross-type (horizontal and vertical) AF measurement at all nine focusing points for maximum apertures up to f/5.6. Also, the center AF point offers even more enhanced precision for both horizontal and vertical subject contrast when using EF/EF-S lenses that are f/2.8 or faster.
Also, the default standard precision matte focusing screen is interchangable to a grid-type focus screen (for better horizontal/vertical alignment when composing an image), or a Super-Precision Matte focus screen (for easier grasping of the 'sweet spot' when performing manual focus on lenses that are f/2.8 or faster). This is the first of any camera in the EOS 40D's class.
For exposure control, the same 35-zone metering sensor is retained. However, spot metering has been widened from 3.5 percent to 3.8 percent. Metering range has also been widened from 1 to 20EV to 0 to 20EV.
Live View
This function originally introduced on the EOS 1D Mark III, allows users to shoot images using the LCD instead of the viewfinder. There are 5x and 10x zoom functions available, making taking precise photos a breeze with manual focusing.
The viewfinder can only show 95 percent of the view being captured, whereas for Live View, the full 100 percent view is displayed on the LCD.
A short comparision on some of the changes between the EOS 40D and the EOL-ed EOS 30D:
The EOS 40D sports a newly enhanced CMOS sensor that is both designed and manufactured by Canon, giving 10.1-megapixels. Canon has also replaced the autofocus sensor (which was basically the same thing in the 20D and 30D) with one that is more sensitive and much faster. DIGIC II has also been replaced by the improved DIGIC III image processor, giving you 6.5fps of continuous shooting up to 75 best-quality JPEG files or 17 RAW files.
Canon has positioned this camera to take on any assignment thrown at it, ranging from quick action and sports to wildlife and nature shots. Housed inside the magnesium-alloy casing is the highly efficient DIGIC III as well as DDR SDRAM memory, together with a four-channel-per-line sensor output and separate motors for mirror and shutter.
LCD Display
- Increased sized from 2.5" to 3.0"; menu text can be larger
- Broadened colour gamut
- Narrower viewing angle for better viewing under bright sunlight
DIGIC III
The latest generation of Canon's image processing engine. The EOS 1D Mark III has two of them even. Over it's predecessor, it offers better fine details and colour of the images recorded. The speed of the processor allows for 6.5fps shooting and the excellent efficiency of the DIGIC line is carried on, with battery life going all the way to over a thousand shots (without flash) on a single charge, and of course on a single battery.
Improved image quality
Sensor size remains the about the same for Canon's APS-C range of DSLRs. However with each new release, larger microlenses are used over each pixel, reducing noise output and expanding sensitivity to ISO 3200. The analog-to-digital (A/D) signal conversion capability has been extended from 12-bit to 14-bit. With 14-bit, each channel is able to recognise 16,384 colours and this is four times that of the EOS 30D, resulting in images with better gradations of colours and tones!
A new autofocus module
The nine-point AF coverage since the EOS 20D has remained, however the module has been redesigned and we now see a marked improvement to speed, precision and functionality. Subject recognition problems have been greatly minimised. Autofocus speed of the EOS 40D is 30 percent faster than the EOS 30D.
Interestingly, the new AF sensor now provided cross-type (horizontal and vertical) AF measurement at all nine focusing points for maximum apertures up to f/5.6. Also, the center AF point offers even more enhanced precision for both horizontal and vertical subject contrast when using EF/EF-S lenses that are f/2.8 or faster.
Also, the default standard precision matte focusing screen is interchangable to a grid-type focus screen (for better horizontal/vertical alignment when composing an image), or a Super-Precision Matte focus screen (for easier grasping of the 'sweet spot' when performing manual focus on lenses that are f/2.8 or faster). This is the first of any camera in the EOS 40D's class.
For exposure control, the same 35-zone metering sensor is retained. However, spot metering has been widened from 3.5 percent to 3.8 percent. Metering range has also been widened from 1 to 20EV to 0 to 20EV.
Live View
This function originally introduced on the EOS 1D Mark III, allows users to shoot images using the LCD instead of the viewfinder. There are 5x and 10x zoom functions available, making taking precise photos a breeze with manual focusing.
The viewfinder can only show 95 percent of the view being captured, whereas for Live View, the full 100 percent view is displayed on the LCD.
A short comparision on some of the changes between the EOS 40D and the EOL-ed EOS 30D:
| EOS 30D | EOS 40D | |
| Sensor size | 22.5 x 15.0mm | 22.2 x 14.8mm |
| Image pixels | Effective: 8.20 megapixels approx. Total: 8.50 megapixels approx. |
Effective: 10.10
megapixels approx. Total: 10.50 megapixels approx. |
| Image types | JPEG RAW (12-bit) JPEG + RAW recording |
JPEG RAW (14-bit) JPEG + RAW recording JPEG + sRAW recording |
| Image sizes | Large/Fine: 3504 x 2336 Large/Normal: 3504 x 2336 Medium/Fine: 2544 x 1696 Medium/Normal: 2544 x 1696 Small/Fine: 1728 x 1152 Small/Normal: 1728 x 1152 RAW: 3504 x 2336 (8.7MB approx.) |
Large/Fine: 3888
x 2592 Large/Normal: 3888 x 2592 Medium/Fine: 2816 x 1880 Medium/Normal: 2816 x 1880 Small/Fine: 1936 x 1288 Small/Normal: 1936 x 1288 RAW: 3888 x 2592 (12.4 MB approx.) sRAW (Small RAW): 1936 x 1288 (7.1MB approx.) |
| Viewfinder magnification | 0.9x approx. | 0.95x approx. |
| Viewfinder eyepoint | 20mm approx. | 22mm approx. |
| Focusing screen | Fixed, precision matte | Interchangable, default is precision matte, can be changed to grid-type or Super-Precision |
| AF points | 9, cross-sensitive center AF point (f/2.8 and faster lenses only) | 9, all cross-sensitive (f/5.6) while center AF point additionally sensitive when used with f/2.8 or faster lenses |
| Metering modes | 35-zone TTL full aperture metering - Evaluative (linkable to any AF point) - Partial (approx. 9% of viewfinder at center) - Spot (approx. 3.5% of viewfinder at center) - Center-weighted average metering |
35-zone TTL full aperture metering - Evaluative (linkable to any AF point) - Partial (approx. 9% of viewfinder at center) - Spot (approx. 3.8% of viewfinder at center) - Center-weighted average metering |
| Shutter speeds | 1/8000 to 30 sec., bulb | 1/8000 to 30 sec., bulb |
| X-sync speed | 1/250 sec. | 1/250 sec. |
| Self-timer | 10 sec. delay | 2 sec. or 10 sec. delay, can be set |
| Continuous shooting speed | High speed: 5fps max. Low speed: 3fps max. |
High speed: 6.5fps
max. Low speed: 3fps max. |
| Maximum burst | JPEG Large/Fine: 30 approx. RAW: 11 approx. RAW + JPEG Large/Fine: 9 approx. |
JPEG Large/Fine:
75 approx. RAW: 17 approx. RAW + JPEG Large/Fine: 14 approx. |
| LCD monitor size | 2.5-inch | 3-inch |
| LCD pixels | 230,000 | 230,000 |
| Brightness levels | 5 | 7 |
| Playback display format | Single image, shooting information, 9-image index, magnified view (Approx. 1.5x - 10x), autoplay, image rotation, and Jump | Single image, Single image + Image-recording quality, shooting information, histogram, 4- or 9-image index, magnified view (approx. 1.5x - 10x), rotated image, image jump |
| Histogram display | Brightness or RGB, must be set | Brightness and RGB can be viewed together |
| Highlight alert | In the shooting information mode, any overexposed highlight areas with no image information will blink | Can be set, overexposed highlight areas will blink |
| Battery life | At 20ºC, with 50% flash use: 750 shots approx. At 20ºC, without any flash use: 1100 shots approx. |
At 23ºC, with 50%
flash use: 800 shots approx. At 23ºC, without any flash use: 1100 shots approx. |
| Dimensions | 144 x 105.5 x 73.5mm | 145.5 x 107.8 x 73.5mm |
| Weight | 700g approx. | 740g approx. |
Comments (5)
http://resources.vr-zone.com.sg/tux/...es/sample4.jpg
Come on Canon! WE WANT MORE!